Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and one of the best selling artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album ‘An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down’, and his early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music and R&B … (read more at Wikipedia) Links To Peel Peel first became aware of Rod Stewart in 1967, when Stewart sang on the Jeff Beck Group's "Rock My Plimsoul", which he played on the Perfumed Garden. Later he played Beck tracks with Stewart vocals from the band's LPs and sessions on Top Gear, and hired the singer to provide vocals on Python Lee Jackson's single, "In A Broken Dream". The DJ also featured tracks from Stewart's first two solo albums, which gained the singer some underground credibility at the start of the 1970s, but it was his enthusiasm for the Faces which brought him into regular contact with Stewart. Stewart and Peel became, for a while, great friends: John's wife Sheila See Margrave Of The Marshes, Corgi edition, pp. 327-8. relates how JP used to go to his house for dinner Stewart relates how John turned up for lunch, only to be greeted with a roast dinner: since he was a lifelong vegetarian, he was apparently hastily served a boiled artichoke. and once they attended a Millwall football match together. He was also present, along with the other members of the Faces, at John's wedding, and apparently spent the whole time talking to John's Aunt Ailsa from Wales. Stewart's no. 1 hit Sailing, from the extravagant and overblown but hugely successful album Atlantic Crossing, made John's 1975 list of the best singles of the year: he also described the LP as a good one 1975, reprinted from Listener article, Olivetti Chronicles, Corgi, p.247.. Stewart himself claimed Stewart, R., Rod The Autobiography, Random House, 2012, p. 135. that he had had a "long, friendly relationship with Peel" who helped to popularise the Faces by saying "all sorts of supportive things" which "really helped to get us across to people and break down some resistance." He also claimed that the band caused him "terrible quantities of stress by keeping him in the pub opposite the studios until the very last minute before the broadcast was due to start." Certainly, Sheila agrees that it was Stewart's band that started Peel drinking alcohol again after several years of abstinence. However, Stewart also seems to be under the impression that John hosted a series called The Peel Sessions (which never existed) and claimed that the pair lost touch after he (Stewart) moved to Los Angeles (JP claims that celebrity went to his head in the same way as Pink Floyd, and criticised him for acting like a "berk" and becoming a tax exile.). Stewart was pencilled in as one of the guest presenters of Kat's Karavan when Peel went on his final holiday to Peru for 19 October 2004, but ended up being replaced without explanation by Underworld. ''Maggie May'' on Top Of The Pops Stewart insisted on Peel being present on their Top Of The Pops performance of Maggie May in which he was required to mime to the mandolin part (the illusion is rather spoiled by JP holding the instrument flat on his lap). The part was actually played by Lindisfarne's Ray Jackson, who was only paid a flat session fee and later sued for royalties: this tends to lend credence to John's claim that Stewart was tight-fisted (http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/Peel_071_(BFBS)). In addition, Sheila says the Musicians' Union were extremely unhappy that a non-performer was being included in this way in a professional performance. JP had to furnish the union with a guarantee that the band had not offered him any payment, and the BBC cameramen were ordered not to allow John to be seen in shot. However, Stewart got to hear about this and thus took every opportunity to be seen behind John. Peel was fairly proud of this moment (especially since it occurred during an unofficial BBC ban on him appearing on TOTP as a presenter) and during the 1976 Festive Fifty expressed a wish that he had a copy of his performance, although he was quite embarrassed years later when his children saw it on TV. Nevertheless, the song made it to his Peelenium 1971 list. Festive Fifty Entries *1976 Festive Fifty: Maggie May #34 on Top Of The Pops, 1971, with Peel “playing” mandolin.]] Peelenium *Peelenium 1970: An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down *Peelenium 1971: Maggie May Sessions *No solo sessions. Stewart appeared on sessions with the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces, and was also part of the Carol Concert session broadcast 26 December 1970. Live *24 December 1976: concert from Olympia, introduced by Bob Harris #Tonight’s The Night #Wild Side Of Life #This Old Heart Of Mine #Sweet Little Rock And Roller #I Don’t Want To Talk About It #The Killing Of Georgie #Maggie May #Get Back #Losing You #Sailing Other Shows Played (The list below was compiled only from the database of this site. Please add further information if known.) ;1969 *13 December 1969: An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (LP - An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Vertigo ;1970 *07 March 1970: Blind Prayer (LP - An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Vertigo *18 July 1970: Country Comfort (LP - Gasoline Alley) Vertigo *01 August 1970: It’s All Over Now (single) Vertigo *03 October 1970: Cut Across Shorty (LP - Gasoline Alley) Vertigo *12 September 1970: Gasoline Alley (LP – Gasoline Alley) Vertigo *17 October 1970: Lady Day (LP - Gasoline Alley) Vertigo ;1971 *10 July 1971: Maggie May *24 July 1971: Reason To Believe (LP - Every Picture Tells A Story) Mercury ;1972 *11 July 1972: ‘Never A Dull Moment’ LP played in full *14 July 1972: Twistin’ The Night Away (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *14 July 1972: You Wear It Well (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *18 July 1972: Italian Girls (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *21 July 1972: True Blue (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *28 July 1972: Lost Paraguayos (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *01 August 1972: Angel (LP - Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *04 August 1972: You Wear It Well (single) Mercury *11 August 1972: Twistin' The Night Away (LP - Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *25 August 1972: Italian Girls (LP - Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 3: Gasoline Alley (LP) Vertigo *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: Twisting The Night Away (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: Angel (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: I’d Rather Go Blind (LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: You Wear It Well ((LP – Never A Dull Moment) Mercury ;1973 *24 April 1973: An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (LP – An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down, 1969) Vertigo *26 April 1973: Cindy's Lament (LP – An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Mercury *03 May 1973: Blind Prayer (LP – An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Mercury *10 May 1973: Man Of Constant Sorrow (LP – An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Vertigo *26 June 1973: Mandolin Wind (LP: Every Picture Tells A Story) Mercury *28 June 1973: Reason To Believe (LP: Every Picture Tells A Story) Mercury *19 July 1973: (I Know) I’m Losing You (LP: Picture Tells A Story) Mercury *24 July 1973: The Day Will Come (7" single) Columbia *31 July 1973: Why Does It Go On (7"-B side of The Day Will Come) EMI ;1974 *02 May 1974: You Wear It Well (LP - Never A Dull Moment) Mercury *24 September 1974: Bring It On Home To Me / You Send Me (LP - Smiler) Mercury *10 October 1974: Hard Road (LP - Smiler) Mercury ;1975 *06 January 1975: As Long As You Tell Him (7" - You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Short Comings)) Warner Bros. *18 August 1975: It's Not The Spotlight (LP - Atlantic Crossing) Warner Bros. *19 December 1975: Sailing (7") Warner Bros (15 favourite singles of 1975) *D030: Still Love You (LP - Atlantic Crossing) Warner Bros *D030: I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town (JP: "Well, not one of Rod's finer moments...") ;1976 *18 August 1976: Maggie May (7") Mercury (Faces band retrospective) *18 August 1976: Sailing (7") Warner Bros. (Faces band retrospective) *28 December 1976: Maggie May (7") Mercury (JP: 'Well, I'd dearly love to have a copy of the Top Of The Pops film that had me pretending to play mandolin on that.') (1976 Festive Fifty #34) ;1977 *28 October 1977: Hot Legs (LP - Foot Loose & Fancy Free) Riva *28 October 1977: You're Insane (LP - Foot Loose & Fancy Free) Riva *28 October 1977: Born Loose (LP - Foot Loose & Fancy Free) Riva ;1978 *03 January 1978: You Keep Me Hangin' On (LP - Foot Loose & Fancy Free) Riva *19 January 1978: I Was Only Joking (7" - I Was Only Joking / Hot Legs) Riva *23 October 1978: (Mentions that the Faces are still one of his all-time favourite bands. Even though Rod Stewart “acts like a berk a lot of the time,” he’s still the only tax exile Peel misses.) ;1987 *Peel 071 (BFBS): ('If you'll forgive me a kind of cosmic name-dropping, there was a time when I used to go drinking with Rod Stewart, amongst others, before he became enormously famous. He was a bloke who would never buy a drink, I mean, absolutely never. You could sit there all night looking at him accusingly, never buy a drink and every time you got up eventually out of despair and said, "Another drink, Rod?", he'd say, "Yes, please, and a Scotch egg", or something like that, "while you're at it." Amazing. That's perhaps why he's a multi-millionaire now. That and the records of course.') ;1999 *10 November 1999: An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (LP-An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down) Vertigo (Peelenium 1970) *11 November 1999: Maggie May (7") Mercury (Peelenium 1971) (JP: "A demonstration once again that before he became a famous bloke, he was capable of writing genuinely sensitive and amusing and well-observed little songs, and that was one of them, and there were many more to follow too.") *08 December 1999: Good King Wenceslas (part of Carol Concert Peel session) Top Of The Pops *05 May 1983 (TOTP): Maggie May (clip from 27 December 1971) *08 June 1983 (TOTP): Baby Jane *23 June 1983 (TOTP): Baby Jane *07 July 1983 (TOTP): Baby Jane *05 January 1984 (TOTP): Sweet Surrender *09 August 1984 (TOTP): Some Guys Have All The Luck ;Other *Partners In Dispute: Maggie May See Also *Faces *Jeff Beck Group *Python Lee Jackson *1974 Top Ten Albums *Let It Rock *Peel On Radio *Album Plays *The Ingerland Factor Playlist *Record Collection: V&A LPs *Sounds Playlist *UK Singles Chart Number Ones External Links *Wikipedia *Official site *MTV biography *AllMusic ;Footnotes Category:Artists